Poor old Rye. It’s known as the “Far East” by much of Sussex, and the fact that it is a tourist trap seems to have passed the councils by.
We have a medieval heart, a fine church, picturesque cobbled streets – Mermaid Street is reputed to be one of the most photographed streets in the world – a fine art gallery, museum, pubs and restaurants by the dozen. We have even been a filmset now and again. Yet Rye is, in parts, shabby. The councils must step in and sort out the problems that are their responsibility.
The smaller roads are down to East Sussex County Council. Rye Conservation Society has submitted a detailed specification for repairing cobbles. However, by the time the job has been allocated through a number of subcontractors, of the spec there is no sign. No wonder the repairs are bodged and do not last.
The hole outside Fletchers at the top of Lion Street positively welcomes someone falling into it, and a number of the crossing-point setts in various places are loose and will trip the unwary. The conservation society is attending a meeting of such sub-contractors in September, when their specification will be discussed, but don’t hold your breath.
As for the potholes . . . well, maybe the Government’s distribution of pothole repair cash will filter down. It better had. You can do your bit by reporting road problems (road surface, pavements, blocked drains, etc) through this excellent website – the more the merrier.
Parking is an issue. Narrow streets are not made for large vehicles, and it is an offence to park on pavements. Many residents are fed up with blocked footways and broken pavement drains.
A number of houses on corners have been sideswiped by large vehicles. Many of the worst parking offenders are lazy residents. It’s time for a crackdown. While the police treat parking problems not as low priority but as no priority simply encourages bad behaviour. Stamp on it and it will stop.
There isn’t much litter in Rye, thanks to the regular refuse collections and street sweeping – very necessary after the inevitable sack-shredding by the pterodactyls (sorry, gulls). But litter at the edge of the Market car park along Station Approach gets trapped between the retaining wall and the railings – whoever designed that construction should be sacked. It is never cleared up. It’s time it was.
And it’s time the whole of the approach, with its hopeless bus shelters and unwelcoming nothingness for the tourists who get off coaches, was revamped.
How about building an information kiosk by the public toilets? It’s crazy that visitors have to walk right into Rye before they can find somewhere that tells them where to go. And it might mitigate the walk to town where the first thing you see is a betting shop or two. Some nice trees by the Post Office might improve the scene, too.
